"—I will absolutely find a paddle and make you bend over for it every time anyone comes over. Even the mailman!"

Khell was shaking with laughter. "We don't have to."

"Oh, we're going to. I wouldn't want to disrespect your customs," I said primly. Which was true. And also, if Khell wanted to spank me and he promised I would enjoy it, then…well, it would certainly keep me from being nervous until Natalie and Theo arrived. I paused and raised a finger. "But I'm observing this custom on a case by case basis. You're not spanking me before my parents come to visit next month."

Khell laughed and blushed. "Fair enough. You're sure you'd like to try it now?"

I nodded and squared my shoulders, maintaining the semblance of my own pride, when really there was nothing Khell could ask of me that I wouldn't want to try with him. "Is there a special position I'm supposed to observe?"

"I mean…I have a preference," Khell answered, still grinning. He grabbed one of my large decorative pillows from the corner of the couch and then leaned forward, spreading his legs wide—and mine too, for that matter—and placing the pillow on the floor.

I stared down at it for a long moment before it clicked. "Beast," I muttered.

"But I offered you a pillow!" Khell teased.

"Don't you dare let me fall," I grumbled, leaning forward slowly.

"Mate, I would never," he purred.

And his arm around my waist supported me as I tipped forward, planting my hands in the pillow and then, at the nudge of his other hand on my back, lowering myself down to my elbows, hanging upside down from his lap.

My thighs were spread and stretched, and the position made my core feel hollow. Fuck. Was sex entirely off the table?

Khell shifted and I squeaked, but he didn't let me fall. His hands grasped the back of my thighs, already exposed from the awkward position, and then he smoothed his touch up until the skirt of my dress flipped down at the waist, brushing against my hair and the pillow under me.

"We should try this position another time," Khell mused. "Does it hurt?"

It wasn't comfortable, but the tension was the sort I enjoyed. I shook my head and asked, "How many times do you spank me?"

"Until I like the color," Khell said mildly. And then his claws hooked into the waistband of my underwear, pulling it down to leave it stretched just beneath my ass, probably pushing my cheeks high and round. "It's a good thing we leave your curtains closed now. This view is mine alone."

I blushed, annoyance and humor warring with the urge to preen at the praise.